Joy is my first word this morning,
Hostilities surround me,
Yet, my world is calm,
I feel the breath of hate,
From the words of Contempt,
But, my heart is touched by Love.

The hater’s words will soon turn,
When they stare him in the face,
They will be his own destruction,
All his evil plans are meaningless,
Because, he lost sight of truth,
In the midst of a thousand lies,
The delusion of control is destroyed.

God’s mercy reaching out to me,
Touching my deepest pain,
His healing words speak hope,
After despair is transformation,
That comes like new growth,
After the fiercest downpour,
Love’s words fosters new shoots.

Hate’s foolishness will not last,
The word traps he set,
Will become his prison,
Eternity’s plan is always unfolding,
Searching for hope in everyone,
While exposing pride’s false promise,
God’s approval is my desire,
Foolishness always has the same end.

Loneliness is preparing the way,
To know the worst disappointments,
All around me there are troubles,
The cause of these are the proud,
There is no shame for their betrayal.

My dear enemy thinks he knows better,
God isn’t a consideration for his truth,
Outward trappings of success,
The arrogance of easy victories,
Those won over the crushed in spirit,
Disguise the fragility of his power.

The daily spewing of hate,
The put downs of arrogance,
That seek to crush my spirit,
Has no conscience,
He moves from victim to victim,
Looking to spread contempt,
Thinking he is immune from consequences.

Justice is coming to the proud,
Their weaknesses will bring them down,
My name will be returned to me,
When God shouts it from the heaven,
Pride will cower in terror,
When truth destroys pride’s lies,
God’s comfort is my security,
And, my dear enemy’s nightly terror.

Today I just want to praise God,
Your heart beat brings life to everything,
Even my briefest thought,
Is the result of God’s genius.

All the earth shouts its daily praise,
A joyous celebration of life’s gift,
It never doubts its creator,
Each part knowing it belongs,
To Eternity’s loving destiny.

My task today is to pay attention,
To loving God’s voice in my life,
Focussing on God’s truth,
To seek what is good,
Knowing Eternity’s safety,
For ever and ever,
Amen.

My doubts surround me today,
They make my will weak,
Caution holds me back,
When bold faith is my calling.

When I doubt most,
I despair of hope,
God have mercy on me,
See my heart’s desire,
Heal my cautious spirit.

When fear clutches my heart,
Tomorrow looms with terror,
I curl up wanting to die,
Disappointments are everywhere,
Overwhelmed by disloyalty,
I feel like giving up.

This morning I cry out to God,
I will find him in all I do,
God listens to my broken prayers,
My illogical words and groans,
The tears that I shed each night,
Everything is being set right,
Opposition lives with its own shame,
I am heard by God,
My fears transformed by courage.

My heart longs for God’s call in the morning,
When my groans become too much,
I turn to my Beloved father’s care,
My requests born from my pain,
Are compassionately answered by my Father.

Arrogance pretended to be my friend,
Making continuous false promises,
Lying through his teeth day after day,
The pretence of care was thinly veiled pride,
All of which will be arrogance’s destruction.

Lies on top of lies became his own snare,
Pride’s guilty heart became his daily lament,
Justice brings Eternity’s truth to the lies,
Lies exposed for their destructive heart,
Pride’s pitiful outbursts exposed for all to see,
Their own reward is received in due time,
Loneliness is arrogance’s eternal fate.

I found safety from the onslaught of lies,
Giving everything to God,
Meant the lies could take nothing from me,
I learned to begin with daily praise,
Surrounding my life with love’s words,
Hope emerged with fresh life today.

At the end of my day,
My troubles overwhelmed me,
I couldn’t think straight,
Everything felt like too much,
Even the smallest detail,
Felt like the final straw.

I want to know renewal tonight,
As I consider my broken heart,
I choose you Lord to protect,
When I can’t sleep,
When trust is the hardest task,
My enemies seem to succeed,
While I struggle with each day.

I will seek to trust you God,
You gave me new life,
My search is not for more blessing,
It is to know you deeply,
Surrounded by your peace,
Seeking to discover rest myself,
I pray for this tonight,
As I put my trust in you.

Trouble surrounds my life,
It’s always close by,
Everyday feels like a struggle,
My best is never good enough,
Someone is always drawing their knife,
Wanting my destruction,
Even when my life is poured out,
My hater drags me down,
He returns love with hate words,
Quickly forgetting what is given.

Each day emerges from my night’s sleep,
In the night I choose to trust God,
He protects me from the evil plotters,
Those who only want for themselves,
Goodness brings out their worst,
And, shows my true heart,
My God protects me from evil,
I sleep well in his loving embrace,

Today I look to God for help,
I will seek what is beautiful,
Even the haters need God’s love,
I will be the winner,
With the assurance of love,
Healing the haters destruction,
Blessing increasing every day.

My heart understands the pure joy,
Of knowing my pleas for help are heard,
Not just a voice lost in the crowd,
Out of all my sadness,
Every difficulty known,
All my despairing thoughts,
Friends deafened to my grief,
Every hate filled word.

All of this,
Is completely surrounded by praise,
Salvation’s words are my song,
No condemnation is left for me,
Even though I lost my way,
God’s eye was on me,
Never lost, always loved,
I know this completely,
My life lived in confident praise.

Home’s door is wide open,
Its welcome mat,
Bears my feet’s imprint,
I entered its rest,
Life is now continuous joy,
A celebration of loving acceptance,
Of my God’s generous love,
His heart opened wide,
To embrace me forever.

My heart is open to all of God’s words,
I dabbled in the selfish life,
Thinking that I could do it alone,
It was only as the new dawn came,
When I began my day offering brokenness
That everything started making sense again,
With nothing hidden,
Everything became very clear,
Deceit makes its wily plans,
Trying always to skirt around your truth.

When it all went belly up for me,
I drew closer to God,
I had nowhere else to go,
Alone but always with God,
When Hatred screamed at me,
You useless pile of dung,
You don’t belong to me,
My life turned completely around,
Death’s intention stopped in its tracks,
Completely stopped by Grace.

As Grace drew to his full height,
I saw Hatred’s pitiful last gasps breathed,
Still spitting out his wretched lies,
Down to his last believer – himself,
Leading himself down the road to death,
Grace and peace giving no air to hatred,
It suffocates on its own death vomit,
I love being safe in Grace’s arms,
The one called beloved,
Enjoying my name being called out,
For everyone to hear who I belong to,
Nothing unseen – every part loved.

In my search for what is right and good,
I see how hatred strikes out,
With a lashing tongue,
Words that speak his evil heart,
The more said – the clearer it becomes,
Hatred and love in the final face off,
Staring each other down,
I see hate withering,
As love’s gaze brings truth to light,
I stand with love today,
Knowing the truth that lives in me,
Saved from the darkest depression,
By learning the word, “Beloved”.

Tiredness is this world’s search,
For the way that things should be,
Love is treated with disdain,
Consumed by the world’s hunger for more,
Never satisfied; always wanting,
It says that I don’t matter,
Forgetfulness of truth is no excuse,
For when truth’s eternal reign,
Shows what is born from hate,
Fear will be cast aside,
And, love shall live forever more.

Eternity’s heartbeat is heard through time,
Giving life to all creation’s activity,
Brought together by your hand,
As the most beautiful sign of love,
Your love understood by your words,
Speaking directly to me,
Heaven’s doors opening to my heart,
Seeing my seeking heart,
That yearns to belong to its source.

Still the hatred continues,
Even though it’s brings its own death,
Its only desire is for itself,
Wanting to cling to my life,
Speaking words that are hatred’s burden,
Trying to confound truth’s path,
I will put all I have in God’s hands,
The hatred given totally to him,
This gives me freedom in all I do,
To be completely obedient to God,
No need to look at the distractions,
That the hater uses to hide truth.

My best defence is obedience to God,
Complete faithfulness to his plans,
I will let the hater wallow in his outbursts,
I will put his words far behind me,
My strength will be in living wholeheartedly,
Hatred’s putrid stench will be left behind,
Its aweful fragrance a distant memory,
My life is seeking the one thing,
Submitting my desires to knowing God’s pleasure.

My uncertain path is now clearly laid out,
Understanding brings responsibility,
Even correction from God is kind,
Sometimes the sudden jolt of his reality,
Stops me in my tracks,
But, then I listen and hear wisdom,
My deepest sadness was God’s kindness,
The liar is lost in his own foolishness,
I seek wisdom and its confidence,
Intelligence is stupid unless it’s obedient.

Stupidity’s accusations don’t worry me at all,
They are all founded on his own lies,
Believed only by those who share his madness,
Self attributed honour is foolishness in action,
The more given the greater is is his descent,
Money is a pitiful god that brings no glory,
The appearance of success quickly dissipates,
His shallow victory will become his millstone,
Its weight gets heavier each day,
Hatred’s vomit words now his constant reminder,
Of the foolishness of arrogance,
And, of God’s promises to his beloved.

My morning begins with a shout of praise to God,
Tiredness from the battle is completely gone,
The memories of a defeated life forgotten,
Lies completely replaced by truth,
They have no place in my life,
Faithfulness brings its own confidence,
That my God’s trustworthy justice,
Even now, is setting it all right,
I remember this each morning,
The liars accusations now sound pitiful,
When surrounded by praise to God,
My sadness replaced by constant hope,
Obedience’s desires are God’s promises,
Of the joy that is mine to have.

The morning dawned with the flush of love’s smile,
Words that sought my destruction cast aside,
They have no place in my hopeful world,
That seeks out your Spirit’s breath,
Whispering holy words of fresh hope,
Human judgements transformed by kindness,
I face the day with freedom and lightness.

When I was really at my worst moment,
I had given up on myself,
I thought I was unlovable, worthless,
God remembered my name, “Beloved”,
All around me the death words fell,
Attacking me with hate filled heart,
Trying to control my life on his terms,
Forgetting all about God’s way,
Now I don’t care about death’s rebuke,
I choose the life of the beloved,
Seeking love’s way in all I do,
Never forgetting how close death is.

My heart is an open book to God,
He can see my faithfulness
And, where I have strayed from truth,
Each day I seek God’s desire for me,
So I can know what is good and true,
I see His faithfulness returned to me,
Over and over as each moment unfolds,
I know what love looks like,
When I see God’s hand in everything.

Love brings with it responsibility,
Longing to be faithful to God’s beauty,
Wholehearted love that given unselfishly,
Delighting in new discoveries every day,
Learning your love words spoken to me,
So that I can repeat them back to you,
Purity is what I have found,
In each expression of love,
That is remembered from each day.

I know the pain of forgetting about love,
It took me to my deepest sadness,
Where love was rejected for destruction,
Caught in a web of lies that sought my death,
Obedience brought me back to life,
Revived to begin living once more,
Joy discovered in trusting God,
Laugher was found in love’s embrace,
Selfish desire replaced by Grace’s giving.